


March of Mythology Works

by pennysparrow



Category: Greek and Roman Mythology
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Gen, Modern Era, Original Fiction, Poetry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-19 02:36:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14227254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pennysparrow/pseuds/pennysparrow
Summary: A collection of poems and prose written for poetryforplebs March of Mythology event on tumblr.





	1. Arachnophobia

I hate spiders.   
Arachnophobia.   
It’s a common fear.   
It’s irrational.   
But even the tiniest one sends my heart racing and my lungs gasping for breath.   
Maybe it’s that they have so many legs?   
But centipedes only gross me out, no adrenaline rush to overcompensate for there.   
Maybe it’s that so many spiders are poisonous? And that they bite?   
I have a scar from a spider bite on my arm to prove that.   
But the more I think about it the more I realize the truth.

I’m afraid of spiders because I’m afraid of becoming one.

Arachne was prideful.   
She challenged Athena, a goddess, to a contest.   
And, spoiler alert, she lost.   
Her story ended the only way it could, in tragedy.   
Her pride was so great that Athena took pity, or maybe revenge? The exact story matters not for my own.   
Arachne was turned into a spider after trying to end her life at the failed end of the contest.

I am Arachne.

I’m prideful too.   
And stubborn.   
I refuse to admit when I am wrong and I am always right.   
I will not back down even when I am outmatched.   
You may be saying that these are good things. But I am just lucky that I have yet to challenge a goddess.   
One day I will meet Athena and I will be turned into a spider.

I don’t want to be a spider.   
Spiders scare me.   
My pride scares me.   
But I am Arachne and Athena is waiting.


	2. Cats and Funerals

“Oh I hate these things, don’t you?”

The woman hums in response, eyeing the first’s tightly pinned hair, sleek black dress, and pearls. The other woman continues speaking, not noticing how thoroughly uninvested her conversation partner is in what she has to say.

“I mean, it’s awful what happened but this isn’t some kind of honor. This is just a bunch of people parading their money about.”   
  
She nods this time and glances around the small room. “The flowers are beautiful,” it’s the first time she’s spoken and the honesty in her voice seems lost on the other woman.

“It’s all just a contest. His siblings were so petty with each other all the time,” the woman’s lips curl up in a sneer.

“Did you know him well?” It’s the first time her husband speaks as well. His deep voice rumbling from beside her.

“He was my best friend. We did everything together. Heck, he adopted a cat with me,” she frowns, turning from staring across the room at the coffin and the line of mourners to look at the man and woman beside her.

“You must miss him terribly,” she replies, true sympathy in her voice.

“I don’t think I do. Not yet. I’ve been so caught up in all this I haven’t been able to. He would’ve hated this. It’s all his mother’s doing. He hated his mother,” the other woman trails off and turns back to the coffin where the mother in question stands, receiving handshakes and hugs in consolation.

A soft chuckle comes from her husband and she is forced to press her bony elbow into his side. “Mothers… can be difficult,” he says by way of explanation.

He ignores the look his wife shoots him and the quizzical expression from the grieving friend. She sighs through her nose and walks closer to the woman, who was really no more than a girl when she took a closer look. She clasps the other woman’s hands and gives her a small smile. “We’re truly sorry for your loss. But sometimes these things cannot be helped.”

She is met with a watery smile, the woman extracting her hands to swipe quickly at her eyes. “Thank you. You know you’re the first people to say that to me?”

“Unfortunately, I’m sorry to say that I believe that,” her husband frowns at the people milling past them.

“You know, the longer I think about it the more I realize there’s no possible way I can keep the cat. I’m gonna go home and see it and it’s just…” she trails off with a shuddering breath. “Would- would you be interested in owning a cat?”

She has to bite her cheek to keep from smiling. “Oh we couldn’t.” Her husband snorts quietly from behind her.

“Please. I insist.”

She glances over her shoulder at her husband. Giving him her best pleading look, the same one that brought them here in the first place. He rolls his eyes but nods. “I guess we could then.”

The woman smiles, the first time since they’d met her. They make plans to meet after the viewing ends so she might give them the cat and its supplies. They then part ways and Hades and Persephone leave the funeral home.

“You could have just told me you wanted a cat. I would have gotten you a cat,” he says fondly.

Persephone laughs at that. “Yes but think of what might have happened to this cat if he hadn’t told us about her and it and all.”

“My dear, there are simpler ways of rescuing a cat than crashing the funeral of one of our newest residents.”

“Yes but darling, where’s the fun in that?”


	3. Ribbons and Arrows

Artemis flopped down onto her bed with a sigh and enough force to cause the cot’s old metal springs to creak. Her fellow counselor gave her an odd look but resumed painting her nails without comment.

The modern world was… different. For one thing she had no handmaidens here, they had faded from too many memories too soon. At least she was still able to fulfill her purpose. Her goal to protect and guide girls and young women.

Granted, summer camp counseling was seasonal but Artemis worked at a women’s shelter and helped with local Girl Scout troops the rest of the year. She had her clearances and goddesses, even no longer relevant ones, didn’t require food. What little money she earned bought her clothes. When not living at camp she shared an apartment with her brother. Apollo had always been a jack of all trades and that served his bank account well, wanting proximity to his sister meant that he didn’t mind spending the extra money for a two bedroom.

Although exhausted Artemis was happy. Any day she was able to fire a bow was a good day in this time. Of the ten girls she was responsible for, three had made at least one bulls eye today and that made her heart warm.

Artemis rolled onto her back and looked up at the sloped canvas of the tent. She had an hour left of break after showering and calling Apollo. She could have spent the rest of it in the staff house like the other counselors but she much preferred the fresh air. Her co-worker’s nail polish was fouling that up some though. She wrinkled her nose and swung her legs so that the rubber soles of her canvas shoes slapped the decking. Pushing herself to her feet she grabbed a book and sunglasses before wandering back out of the tent.

Settling herself against a tree on the outskirts of her unit she flipped the book open to where she left off and let her eyes skim across the page. An uneasy feeling had settled into her gut and caused her to reread the same sentence multiple times over. She furrowed her brow as she marked her page, deciding to just end her break early.

Artemis walked out of the woods and back to her tent, exchanging her book for her radio and backpack. She then wandered toward the fire circle where the campers and other counselors were getting ready for the cookout.

“You’re back early?” Another counselor asked, it was obvious she just wanted to make sure that Artemis got the necessary rest from the children. Little did she know that goddesses don’t need those kinds of reprieves.

Artemis shrugged and settled herself on one of the benches, nearest their shyest camper who appeared to be working on organizing the box of cooking tools. “Would you like some help?” She asked the young girl softly.

“No. Thank you,” the girl’s voice was nearly a whisper and she frowned as she untangled a pair of tongs from the rest.

“Ok. But if you do let me know. I can help with more than just the utensils,” Artemis told her kindly.

The girl softened at that and some of Artemis’s uneasiness loosened. The little girl nodded, meeting Artemis’s eyes for the first time all week and letting the corners of her mouth twitch into a small smile. “I don’t know. I didn’t want to come to camp this year… my mom… it’s dumb.”

“I’m sure it’s not.”

The girl turned her attention back to the box as she spoke. Her voice dropping impossibly lower in volume. “There was a car crash. My mom got hurt real bad…” she said as she trailed off.

Artemis nodded, grabbing the set of tongs that the girl had put aside earlier. “I’m sorry to hear that. But I think she would be very proud of all that you have accomplished this week.”

The girl gave her a slightly watery smile, pausing in her organizing to swipe at her cheeks. “Yeah. Me too.” They sat in companionable silence as they worked until the fire was built and the campers were all making their foil packs. Artemis felt the last of the knot in her gut loosen and she smiled, looking at the moon that had started to rise in the still blue sky. Maybe the world was different, maybe she could walk amongst the mortals unnoticed and uncared for. It didn’t matter because she was still doing what she had always wanted to, noticing and caring for them.


	4. To be a goddess

Athena is wise, with sharp tongue and sharper temper.   
I have the latter two and my only wisdom is knowing that.

Aphrodite is forgiving, she will take and give kind words with ease.   
I always seem to be giving kind words and getting none in return, maybe that is why I became so bitter.

Artemis is free, she is brash and reckless when pursuing her goal.   
I seem to be that but I have no goal to use as an excuse.

Hera is loving, but overprotective and jealous.   
I don’t have the excuse of loving too much to forgive those flaws.

Hestia tends the hearth, she keeps the home.   
I want nothing more than to fly the coop.

Demeter coaxes beauty and sustenance from the earth.   
I only add to its decline, its increasing deterioration.

But that is why I’m not a goddess. They are flawed, it is true. But their virtues far out way their vices.   
I’m not perfect but unlike them I don’t pretend to be either, that’s what makes me human.


End file.
